Wish with a price
by waterrelic
Summary: Peter Pan had been on Never Land for a while before Wendy came. There was a girl on Never Land before her, Leona. But what is her true identity, what is the power that she has? She keeps getting disconnected flashbacks, what does it all mean?
1. Never Land: a different view

_Dearest Diary,_

_Some days, I just can't bear it all! I want so badly to escape away from here, to someplace quiet where I may be alone with my thoughts…_

_I know what it would look like, my paradise. It would be tropical, and lush, like somewhere far off and closer to the equator. I would be able to sit quietly near an ocean and watch the sun set in vibrant hues of pink, blue and orange. You would never have to leave, because you would never grow up. You would forget your worries and be carefree. I would call my island, Never Land! Doesn't that sound splendid? A place where you would never grow up and you would be able to leave your worries behind in the real world… If only my dream would come true and take me away._

_Love always,_

_Leona_

Leona stared at the yellowing piece of parchment in her hands. The words faded almost completely in some places. Now, it had come true. Somehow, the words she had written down had become real. Leona sat perched upon a large rock along a cove looking out over an immense ocean of the richest and clearest blue you had ever laid your eyes on, no land in sight.

She glanced back down at the page torn out from her diary and thought, 'Why only this page?' Wind rolled off the ocean spraying her face with a salty breeze, tossing ringlets of her golden hair across her shoulders.

The peculiar thing about this, though, was that she didn't remember writing it. She only ever remembered existing on this island, Never Land. She didn't know how long she had been on the island; it could have been years or maybe just days, and the only thing she knew for sure was that it was only her. There weren't even any fish, or birds, or bugs.

Not even growing up there, just existing in one size and age, her fourteen year old self, like the diary entry said. 'If this is what I wanted, then how come I feel so lonely? This island is so exquisite, yet I'm the only one who gets to see it all.' Leona thought while getting up from her position on the rock and moving on to a nearby lagoon that she enjoyed to swim in occasionally.

The lagoon was another one of her favorite places to go on the island. There was the cove, the lagoon, and deeper into the forest was a large oak tree with large twisted roots that dug deep into the ground. Those were her favorite places to go on the island, because they were all beautiful in a different way.

'If I was able to create this island, then shouldn't I be able to make some inhabitance?' Leona pondered to herself and she swam out to a lone rock in the center on the lagoon. From on top of the rock she was able see her reflection on the smooth, glassy surface of the water.

She had coils of golden hair that fell around her heart shaped face. Her porcelain pale skin and rosy cheeks made cerulean blue eyes stand out. She wore a white shin length sundress it was tattered and worn one sleeve had ripped off over time. She had no shoes, leaving her feet free and able to feel the warm, soft, and dry earth under her feet.

'_Why don't you try and make a wish?_' Said a small voice inside her head. _'Or try magic, give the lagoon a token and try to wish off of it._' Leona pondered this idea for a while before standing up on her rock and reaching up to her necklace. It had a string of pearls on it, surrounding a heart shaped diamond the size of a chicken's egg; engraved on it was her name, _'Leona Astra Kensington'._

She slid one of the pearls off and dropped it into the lagoon. Screwing her eyes shut, she made her wish. 'I wish for ladies with me, to sing with and brush our hair together with.'

"Hello there." said a voice. Leona opened her eyes to see a girl her age, maybe a bit older. She had long, flowing, glimmering auburn hair that pooled about her in the water. The girl had clear pale skin and large, round brown eyes, but the most shocking feature of this beautiful girl was a shimmering forest-green tail in place of legs.

"I'm Pearl. Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Leona." Leona said, surprised at her own voice. She couldn't even remember the last time she spoke aloud, since there had been no one around before to talk to. She had a soft underlying accent to her voice that sounded unfamiliar even to her own ears.

"Sorry, but- you're a _mermaid?_" she asked.

"Well I 'ope you weren't expectin' a pixie!" Pearl shot back, beginning to swim in figure eights to entertain herself while they talked.

"Sorry, no. I wasn't, I don't know what I was expecting actually… I just wanted someone to talk to…" Leona said, letting her sentence trail off unfinished.

"Well, good thing you have me now! I love to talk!" Pearl said avidly, pushing herself up onto the rock to join Leona so that they could talk more easily.

"Why don't you come in for a swim?' Pearl asked, already tugging at her hands to pull her in. But she had heard stories about people being drowned by mermaids. They could be sweet, but they were terribly vain too, and could suddenly drown you.

"I don't know…" –Wait, how did she know that? She could vaguely remember… something… A sharp pain stabbed at her head as a fuzzy memory of a poorly lit pub came into her mind, its battered wooden tables surrounded with drunken sailors just returned from sea voyages.

"Leona? Come on in, I'm your friend aren't I?" Pearl asked. 'Well,' she wagered 'I'll have to go in the water just to get back to land, for this rock is in the center of the lagoon so…'

"Sure, I'll come in."

The rest of the afternoon was spent splashing around in the tropical waters of the lagoon. Pearl sat and combed Leona's hair until it shone silkily, then pulled it up into a high ponytail that rested nearly on top of her head. Once her hair dried her curls tumbled down from the ponytail, swishing back and forth and bobbing at even the slightest movement.

When the sun began to sink lower in the sky, Leona decided that she should better head home.

"I should get going; it's a bit of a walk to get back to my home." She said, pulling herself out of the water.

"Aww! But I'm not ready to stop playing!" Pearl whined. "Sorry-" Leona said, but was cut off.

"Hey, you were able to create me, make more mermaids so I won't be so lonely." Pearl said.

"A-alright." Leona said, reaching up to her necklace and pulling off one more pearl.

"No, more than that." Pearl demanded. So Leona pulled off seven more off from her necklace. Then proceeding to drop then into the lagoon, where eight mermaids popped up, their heads bobbing above the surface.

"There, now I have to go." Leona said, before running off into the jungle.

As Leona walked back to her home, what met her ears in the silence was not the silence of the jungle she was used to. She could hear life, cicadas chirping off in the darkness and other noises. There wasn't dead silence, the jungle was alive!

'_When you started creating life, it opened the floodgates, allowing other living things to enter Never Land._' Leona nodded, this made sense to her.

She walked back through the cove, deep in thought. She was only awoken from her thoughts when she bumped into something, or actually, _someone._ Standing in front of her was a man. He had shaggy long black hair, the wispy beginning of a beard on his chin, and clear, china blue eyes. He was garbed in tattered yellowing shirt and brown shorts that were fraying at the edges. He was a beautiful man.

"Excuse me, miss, but do you happen to know where I am?" he asked.

"Yes, you're on an island I created called Never Land. May I ask what your name is?" Leona asked.

"James." He said.

"Leona" She replied.

"Come with me back to my home, you look like you haven't had a decent meal in a long time." It was true; his clothes hung off his frame in a sickening way that made it seem as if once, those clothes had fit him snugly. Now, his face was sunken and sallow. His arms and legs stuck out awkwardly, the waxy skin stretched taught over bone.

"A meal sounds wonderful right now, thank you." He said.

"Don't worry," replied Leona as she took James's hand and begun leading him to her home. "I rarely ever get to see anyone now; it'll be nice to have company."

"While we're at it, let's see what we can do about clothes for you." Leona said as they walked off down the beach towards the setting son, now casting glows of pink, blue, red, yellow, and orange. Leona felt her heart swell; the more life here on the island, the more complete she felt. Now, walking along the beach, hand in hand with a new friend in the glow of the setting sun, she had never been happier; she never wanted the moment to end.

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Aaaaand that's the end of chapter one :)

Wow, five pages of office word I most love you guys…

For an idea of what the OC looks like, she looks like Taylor Swift; there will also be a picture link of what Leona looks like on my profile.

Leave lots of reviews to make me update faster, Kay? Tell me what you think of it so far.

Yes?

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Llama?

Lots of my motivation to write comes from how many reviews I get. I'm an amateur writer, trying to get better, so helpful hints on how to improve would be great!


	2. A twist in the death

AN: I really find the disclaimers tedious. It should be obvious that said FF author doesn't own anything; so I'm only going to do disclaimer once, and it will apply to the entire story.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except the OC and the idea for this FF.

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Leona's home was made out of large boulders, and a more or less underground cave. When you first look at her home, it seems fairly small, all you see at first is a medium sized bolder with a larger more flat slab of rock lying across the bolder and a cliff face. Once inside there is a small room with a stone basin that jutted out from the boulder next to a big chip in the rock making a window.

But after you had been done gawking at the craftsmanship in the boulder you'd see that closer to the cliff face, the ground begins to slope down to an arch that leads to the underground cave, which is where most of her home lies. There, is her bed which is made out of leaves, bamboo, and driftwood that makes a cot hanging from the ceiling by roots that she sleeps on. This is Leona's home, and where she was taking James now.

Once they reached there, Leona pulled out a small basket of berries that she had stored there.

"Thanks," James said as she handed him the basket

"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble for me you know." Leona waved away his word saying'

"No, no. Really, I told you before that I rarely get company it's nice. So don't worry, it's a pleasure to have you." She said. It was odd though, it felt as though she knew his type so she knew how to act around him.

Once the glamour of actually having someone to talk too had worn off she thought it was safe to leave him alone so that she could go back to the lagoon. She hadn't been there in a couple of days and wanted to see her creations again.

'Mermaid Lagoon,' it sounded like a fitting name for where they lived Leona thought as she made her way to the water. Pushing through the last layer of brush she came upon the mermaids, all lying around on rocks, playing in the water, or sitting near the waterfall combing their long flowing hair with seashell like brushes. Suddenly though every mermaid in the lagoon turned to face her and started shouting at her. She couldn't tell exactly what they were saying, but she got the gist.

"Make me prettier!" one shouted

"Give me a different color tail!" another one yelled

"I want more jewelry!"

Every one of the mermaids shouted at her, demanding things from her. Pearl at the front shouting,

"I'm your friend right? Don't listen to them, just give things to me!" They all wanted something from her.

"No… no, NO! I WON'T!" Leona shouted. The whole lagoon fell silent, every mermaid staring at her before starting up again. Screeching at her loathsome word, clawing at her ankles with their sharp talon like nails. Dragging her off the sandy shore and into the water.

"BITCH!"

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"SELFISH WHORE!" They screamed at her as they dragged her under the surface of the water. They circled around her making currents as they dragged her deeper down to the bottom of the lagoon. Their nails scraped at her flesh and they bit into her arms and legs, her lungs burning for air as she chocked down water. Suddenly, she felt as if she had experienced this before.

~~FLASHBACK~~

The water wrapped around her arms and legs like shifting fabric, tugging and pulling her body in all directions. Leona kept her lips pressed together and her eyes shut tight, though she desperately needed sight to see where the surface was. But she had been struggling for too long and had fought too hard, and now her body was weakening from lack of oxygen.

She opened her eyes in one last attempt to see any kind of light, but all she could see was the dark, twisted scene and the angry waves that ripped at her body. Black spots danced in front of her eyes from lack of oxygen and her body moved in a frenzied response to the burning in her chest. She was going to die. In those last few moments everything became blatantly clear, she was going to die...

And then everything went black.

~~FLASHBACK END~~

No, she didn't want that to happen, she didn't want to die! Leona felt tears leak out of her eyes, to mingle on with the water. Why had she decided to come here? Why didn't she just stay home…? Leona wished to back at her home, under the warm sunlight. Relax on the sandy beach, listening to the waves crashing against the shore. '_With a wish, comes a price.'_

There was a pause, and then the water and the mermaid's hands vanished. Suddenly, instead of hearing the compress of water against her ears, the heard seagulls chirping. Leona opened her eyes to see the ocean; she was lying on her back along the beach.

"What….? How did I…" Leona shook her head in confusion. She looked down at herself to find her cloths dry; she looked at her arms to see them free of scratches of any kind. 'Was it just a dream?' she pondered. No, no that was far too real to be just a dream, and that flashback… was that a memory of hers? Why had she been drowning? What-

"Leona? What are you doing?" Leona's head snapped up to meet the ice blue eyes of James.

"I…. am not sure exactly…" she said. James extended his hand; grabbing it she hoisted herself off the ground to stand next to him.

"Anyway, I came to find you because- there is an Indian tribe in one of the plain clearings! Did you create them?" Leona shook her head at this new anomaly.

"No, I didn't." she said, her head beginning to ach from all the confusion from today.

"Which clearing did you say?" she asked

"Oh," James said scratching the back of his neck "not one that I had ever come across of, I only found them because I had heard 'em mucking about as they set up camp." Leona nodded listening intently.

"Would you like to see? I think I remember the way… sort of… kind of….. not really." James said

"As much fun as getting lost in the woods with you sounds like; I'm going to have to take a rain check. I'm a bit tired and I think I'm going to get an early night's rest." she said. Nodding he paused before pulling something out from behind his back.

"Look at this; I nicked it from them when they weren't looking. It's for you." It was a brown dress with matching moccasins.

"What? James why would you steal from them, don't you want to make friends with them?" she asked

"And how do you think that a stolen dress would be a good gift for a lady?"

"Well sorry! I didn't think you would have such a problem with it! And, a lady? You? Like hell you are!" James yelled throwing the clothes on the ground and storming off into the darkening woods.

Leona didn't know how, but she knew she wasn't going to see James anymore. She had lost her friend.

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Chapter end.

Review!


	3. Memories in the Moonlight

I don't own Mary Poppins.

"'Ave you 'eard? The little wench finally got knocked up!"

"Serves 'er right, working the streets at such a young age!"

Whispers like those followed her around all day. At points Leona felt like she just wanted to sink right through the floor and disappear altogether. But she was a barmaid and she needed the money more than ever. She didn't need it from those lowlife people who had been trash talking her. Her life was hell and she knew it, she didn't need other people telling her too!

Leona took another round of mead to a table of drunken sailors. Setting the drinks down she walked away hearing their slurred bouts of sea shanties. Mutely she placed her hand to her abdomen; she still couldn't believe that this was happening to her! Hasn't she suffered enough? Beneath her hand she felt the baby kick. 'Yes, because the world just LOVES to have a good laugh at you doesn't it?' she thought.

First she was an unwanted love child, and then she was the pitiful homeless child, then a child prostitute, now a young mother who'll probably never be able be a properly support her child. Why does God hate me so? What did I do in a past life to deserve this?

~.~.~.~.~.~.3~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Leona groaned pushing herself up from her cot, and glancing around the darkened cave/room. The mat where James usually slept was still empty; he still had yet to return. Seeing this filled her with sadness until she remembered the fight they had had.

"Git." She mumbled under her breath as she got out of bed for a drink of water.

Bending down in front of the water basin she glanced over at the lantern she had- foolishly- placed by the doorway so that he would be able to find his was back in the dark. 'Stupid…' she thought. He was clearly not coming back, at least not tonight; he was too pig- headed.

Yawning, Leona was about to head back to bed when her ears caught something. It sounded like the tinkling of bells… Stepping out of her cabin she followed the sound to the large oak tree. Her eyes raked over the tree trying to find the source of the sound but there was none. It was in her head, the sound of child's laughter…

Laughter rang out through the small room as a child sat at the window gazing out at the sky. Nearby sat the mother in her rocking chair, darning a pair of woolen socks.

"Mummy! Mummy! Look, wots that sparkly thing there?" a small boy asked pointing out the window, his green eyes twinkling in the dim light. Looking up from her stitching, the young woman glanced out the window before looking at her son.

"Why, it's a fairy of course." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone while looking at the boy.

"Whenever a child first laughs, a fairy is born." she said, setting down her stitching.

"Now, it's time for tots to go to bed." She said as she picked up the small boy and tucked him into a small cot with a thin blanket.

"But I'm not sleepy!" the boy protested as he began to jump up and down on his bed.

"Well, all right, then don't go to sleep." She said picking up her stitching and resumed her work, and then she began to sing a lullaby.

"Stay awake, don't rest your head

Don't lie down upon your bed" the mother watched as the child began to lie back down on his bed.

"While the moon drifts in the skies

Stay awake, don't close your eyes

Though the world is fast asleep" he watched her with a transfixed hypnotized stare as she sang to him, his eyes drooping and his head began to nod.

"Though your pillow's soft and deep

You're not sleepy as you seem" the boys eyes were fully closed now, lying in the bed half under the covers. Getting up she tucked him in lowering her voice.

"Stay awake, don't nod and dream

Stay awake, don't nod and dream" leaning down she kissed the boy's forehead, brushing aside his mop of auburn hair.

"Love, you mum..." the boy sleepily mumbled out.

"Love you too..."

Leona blinked as she was suddenly brought back to reality. What was that last part? She didn't quite catch the boy's name…

Sitting down at the base of the tree Leona looked up at the canopy, what a happy scene that was. Where the loving mother sang her child to sleep, and everything was cozy... 'A fairy is born from child's laughter.' That gave her an idea. Getting up Leona focused her energy on that fact. The wind rustled the trees and bushes around her, making her hair flutter in front of her face. 'A fairy is born from child's laughter…'

Opening her eyes, Leona gasped at what floated in front of her face, the tinkling of bells ringing throughout the clearing.

"Hello there..."


End file.
